Learning from September 11, 2001
by Henry Neufeld, Publisher of Energion Publications
There are things we must not forget.
Why is that? Because we need to learn and apply certain lessons. There are changes we make in who we are and how we behave because of those events. Historical events, or more precisely our perception of them, shape us as families, groups, nations, and yes, churches.
Americans remember the Revolutionary War, the framing of our constitution, the Civil War, December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor), the Vietnam War, and now 9/11. Those events (or periods of time) shaped us. What we were taught about them shaped us, and our perception of them shapes us. Our perception also helps to shape the next generation.
The first Gulf War shaped my life in a major way. I didn’t slog through the sand as soldiers and marines do. I was in the U. S. Air Force, and I did my job in the back of an airplane. My experience in the service, and in various conflicts also shape me. I hear the news differently. Occasionally my wife and I will see a news story and I’ll comment that in the old days, I would have gone and packed my bag, waiting for the inevitable phone call that would tell me I was deploying.
I want to emphasize that I don’t regard my time in the Air Force as some sort of hardship or trial. I enjoyed what I did. I had the opportunity to avoid that first gulf war. I had just returned from deployment, and was asked whether I’d like to volunteer. Most people didn’t have that choice!
My perspective on 9/11 and following events grows out of those experiences. As an American, that is.
But I have a different set of formative experiences as well. Those experiences center around a man dying on a cross outside Jerusalem about 33 CE. I understand that event not only through my own experiences (none of us can avoid our own experience!), but also through other stories of the faith: the creation, the exodus from Egypt, Israel’s exile and return, shaped by and shaping so much of the message of the prophets, and the Maccabean Revolt. (It is unfortunate, in my view, that the books of Maccabees are not part of the protestant canon.)
Those events form my view of what happens as a Christian, or even better as a follower of Jesus Christ. That latter distinction is important. I can see the cross as the horrible moment when the Romans, aided and encouraged by Jewish collaborators, killed Jesus. That hateful and fearful view has shaped the behavior of many who have called themselves Christians. They have, in turn hated and feared Jews. The result of that hatred was killing and the building of further hatred.
It is important to note that our perception of an event sets the way we are formed by it. In the gospel According to John Jesus tells us that we are to love one another as he has loved us (John 13:34). That sets a perspective on the cross. We are to be shaped by it as an act of love, performed on our behalf by Jesus, and thus be set on a path of love for others. And not just any sort of love, but love that makes us willing to sacrifice our very lives.
It was that sort of love that said, “Father forgive them,” regarding people who were in the process of crucifying the One who spoke.
How we remember the event impacts how we act because of it.
This is illustrated in the Passover Seder where actions are taken to remember with sadness what happened to the Egyptians. (See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-daniel-brenner/does-passover-celebrate-the-death-of-innocent-egyptians_b_2821971.html as an example.)
I think the intersection of these two sets of formative stories, the “myths” (in the most positive sense of that word) of our country and our faith community, illustrate a number of things. Most importantly, they show us that the two foundations are not identical. As an American I am drawn to restoration of power, to the accomplishment of justice (I hope) through means of power, and yes, even to revenge. As a Christian, shaped by the story of One who died on the cross, I am called to be different.
I wrote about the word “revenge” back in 2003 just before we invaded Iraq a second time, in the second gulf war. I titled my piece Revenge! Some have objected that their support of the war in Iraq was not based on revenge. But any time you talk about how a group of people, especially one as large as a nation, comes to a decision there are many factors.
I know that there was an element of revenge. Why? Because there was an element of revenge for me. It took me some time in thinking of the war to get past it. At the end of the first gulf war many of us had that feeling that we really hadn’t accomplished the mission because Saddam Hussein was still there and still being obnoxious and dangerous (perhaps) as ever. The thought of seeing Saddam Hussein removed was a joyful one to me.
Until I asked this question: How are things going to be better when we’re done?
As I re-read my piece from 2003 and saw my suggestion of a power vacuum opening up to more problems with Iran, I thought about our current news. Are we better off now because Iraq was invaded in 2003?
But then there is a second question that comes from that second set of formative stories: Are they better off because we invaded in 2003?
This discussion should not be seen as one about our veterans. In a democracy we need a military that obeys civilian authority. There are many ways in which civilian authority can misuse the military, but I believe those are as nothing compared to the way in which a military not under civilian control might abuse its own power. The young men and women who carry out our political will should always be honored, however we feel about the orders they are given. In fact, one of the greatest moral failures of our country, in my opinion, is that we expect this service and then fail these people as veterans. Complete care for those injured or killed in a war should be considered a basic part of the cost of that war by any nation that wants to claim moral high ground.
Yet that second set of stories tells me that I need to be caring about every Iraqi killed, and now about those killed in the current wars there, wars which resulted in part from our changing the political and military calculus of an entire region, a region few of us understand.
I cannot tie all the loose ends in a blog post, but even more importantly, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to do so.
What I’d like you to do is ask yourself about these defining events (and many more; your list may be different), and how they have shaped you. The two lists conflict and overlap. I would suggest that one shaped by both may need to resolve conflicts. It is hard to both love one’s enemies and also bomb them into oblivion. It is also hard not to respond with force when innocent people are slaughtered.
While I believe that our ultimate allegiance belongs to God and his kingdom, I do believe that allegiance calls us to take positive action in this world and at this time. At the same time, my allegiance to God’s kingdom means that the way I respond will be controlled not by anger, fear, hate, or the desire for revenge, but rather by the desire to make life better for others.
God’s love is not diminished because a person lives in another country, belongs to another faith community, or even because that person is a terrorist.
What about mine?
Good questions. Thanks.
Thank you, Henry, for giving us a lot to chew on. Your experiences in the war certainly give you a right to speak out, and your comments are well taken. Thank you for your service in the military. It is a complex subject, but it is true that God’s justice must be satisfied. Ord Wingate, a British army officer stationed in Palestine in 1937, took up the Zionist cause that laid the groundwork for the Israel Defense Force today. He was a Christian who loved the Old Testament and the Holy Land. His love of Scripture and and military prowess enabled him to lead Jewish soldiers against Arab gangs and insured their victory in 1948. And who can deny the righteousness of the Israeli military victory in the Six Days War of 1967, a defensive war? Anyway, as far as the defeat of the Egyptians in the Exodus, yes, it was right for Israel to rejoice in singing the Song of Moses (Ex. 15:1-10). God had told Abraham 430 years before that he would judge Egypt (actually He was judging their so-called gods), and the Israelites would come out with great possessions. Then Israel would take the land of Canaan when the “iniquity of the Amorites” was complete (Gen. 15:13-21). How can anyone question God’s justice? He is impartial. He even had to judge His own people in the exiles of 586 B.C. and 722 B.C., as well as A.D. 70 and A.D. 135. As for America, we are definitely under God’s hand of judgment for all the unborn babies killed (over 55 million) by abortion and the recent legalizing of sodomy as “marriage”! Jonathan Cahn tells the story of our history and harbingers of our judgment in his book, “The Harbinger.” It is must reading for every American who really cares about our country. You are right in that we are shaped by events we have experienced and especially by receiving the salvation of Jesus Christ. The hardest thing He commanded us was to love our enemies. It is simply impossible to do apart from the grace of God. I believe that means on a person-to-person basis, when one’s life is directly affected by the words and actions of an enemy. As for the righteousness of war as a nation, it can be just that. But our leaders must look to God and depend on prayer in this awesome decision that will affect thousands and thousands of lives in the present and future. We ordinary citizens should be spending more time in corporate, public prayer for our leaders. I myself need to pray much more!!! “Unless the Lord keeps the city, the watchman watches in vain” (Psalm 127:1). OUR TRUST SHOULD BE IN ALMIGHTY GOD, and we as a nation are in dire need of mercy. We must repent and call out to Him, or another 9-11 and worse can happen.
Blessings,
Nancy
I think the most important thing I learn from scripture is that God is in control. This doesn’t mean I shouldn’t act, but it does mean that I shouldn’t panic.
I’m certainly acquainted with the modern history of Israel. I have paid particular attention to the Israeli Air Force over the years. While 1967 is interesting, the accomplishments of the IAF in 1948 are really quite amazing, and some of the best reading you’ll find about espionage and covert operations involve the Mossad. Haver you read Every Spy a Prince by Raviv and Melman?
No, I haven’t read that book, but it sounds interesting. I have read a summary of some of the feats in battle by the IAF. Stunning! An excellent book that includes some of the ways God intervened in Israel’s wars is “When Day and Night Cease” by Ramon Bennett. I also wanted to agree with you that it would be nice to have the books of Maccabees included in our Bibles, but only if it is made very clear that it is not inspired Scripture, just good between-the-testaments history. The Maccabees used the Scripture in their battle plans. Isn’t that neat? Also, I just read an article that told of Orde Wingate reading aloud some Scripture to his Jewish troops before the night raids against the Arabs. You are right, Henry. We should not fear but have faith that even if the worse happens, we believers in Jesus can depend on our God to shield and defend us according to Psalm 91. That is powerful assurance!
Shalom,
Nancy
Henry, I was just about to buy “Every Spy a Prince,” when I noticed the same authors have a new one for Kindle, “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars, Updated and Revised (2014).” I just bought it! Whee!
Powerful, thoughtful reflection, Henry..Bob
Good questions, Henry. For my part, the more I read the gospels, the less I think that Jesus would ever sanction going to war. I haven’t yet quite got to the Quaker or Mennonite position, but I can see a trajectory there. Interesting, because I started off as someone extremely interested in military history and very good at war games. I’ve never served in the military myself, but I have served alongside military (as a Civil Defence Scientific Advisor), so I have a certain amount of additional feeling for those who do serve – and certainly think those who do should be looked after for life.
I look back on what followed 9/11 with huge sadness. Putting aside pacifist and even humanitarian considerations for a moment, if something was to be done, it seems to me that it should have been a SMART task, i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-limited. I think almost every action taken since then as part of the “war on terror” fails at least one of them, and in particular Iraq failed them all.
It may be that revenge was not actually a dominant motive, but what has happened since looks strangely like the actions of a rather uncoordinated giant who, when slightly injured, flails about doing huge violence, often to those who are unconnected with the injury and merely happen to be available targets. And yes, my own country has assisted with most of those, and we are not immune from the desire to hit out at something, anything, when wounded, as we of course were on 7/7.
As I touched on in the recent GCP episode, the anniversary has this time come as we are remembering the events of World War II; in particular, I’ve been watching a set of programmes on the Blitz, during which Nazi Germany destroyed much of many of our cities, mostly during 1941/2.
This has forcibly recalled to me the problems with tit-for-tat actions – the Blitz started when German bombers attacking the London industrial and dock zones overshot and bombed residential areas; in return, Churchill ordered the bombing of Berlin, and Hitler reciprocated by promising to level London. It continued, including the almost complete flattening of the city of Coventry here, and of course Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig in Germany. We ended up killing about 10 times as many civilians as the Germans managed to.
It also recalled the fact that in order to stand against Hitler, the country had to become far more authoritarian and, for a while, an effective police state – which were two of the things we were fighting for freedom from. We became a lot more like our enemy.
Since 9/11, both our countries have become markedly more xenophobic (and, dare I say it, trigger happy), we have become more surveilled and far less free in many ways than we were beforehand. The pattern seems to me clear, that in trying to preserve freedom and democracy, we lose freedom and democracy. If we allow this to continue happening, the terrorists have won; they have destroyed our societies by our own efforts.